Wellington, Aug 20 (IANS): The wife of a Sikh man and her workmate have been charged with murdering him in New Zealand, media reported Wednesday.

Gurjinder Singh, 25, and Amandeep Kaur, 31, appeared in the Auckland High Court Wednesday to face the murder charge of 35-year-old Davinder Singh, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Name suppression for the pair was lifted Wednesday. The incident occurred Aug 7 outside the Manukau Event Centre, a site for public functions in Auckland.

Police said Kaur was with the victim on the night of the incident. Davinder Singh was attacked when the couple had stopped on a road to buy takeaways while on their way home from work.

He was attacked with a sharp implement and died on the spot in the driver's seat.

"Singh got a lot of wounds so there's definitely an indication of a violent struggle that's occurred in and around the vehicle," said Dave Lynch, detective inspector.

Police charged Kaur and Gurjinder Singh with murder.

The motive for the attack was not robbery, police confirmed.

Both defendants, however, pleaded not guilty.

Immediately after the incident, Davinder Singh's family said he had no enemies. They believed his killing was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Before the charges were laid, the Sikh community said they would rally around Kaur to support her but she will remain in custody until at least October when she and her co-accused will be back before the court.

Davinder Singh came to New Zealand from Rajasthan seven years ago and had been working as an upholsterer at DS Furniture in Mangere, a suburb of Auckland, the report said.